


earth orbits in an ellipse

by i_am_sion



Series: ashedue week 2020 [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23524330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_am_sion/pseuds/i_am_sion
Summary: ashedue week day 3 // fairytale"Tell me a story," Ashe asks.It's snowing. They're locked inside with nothing much to do, snuggled together. Tomorrow is the Millenium Festival, and they're conserving their energy for the festivities.Dedue supposes itisthe perfect time for a story.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Dedue Molinaro
Series: ashedue week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690933
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	earth orbits in an ellipse

Dedue hates the winters in Fhirdiad-- though it isn’t as if his homeland was any farther north. Duscur had its own seasons, and the end of each year wasn't any less bitter and cold. He simply thinks that the people of Faerghus would have learned how to deal with the cold a little better by now. They refuse to stop using canvas and cotton for their clothes just as they refuse to use animal skins, only lining accessories like mittens and hats with wool, a resource they had so little of under the weak excuse of “cruelty.” What was cruel was that only people with money could afford a luxury like wool anyways. 

The stone walls of the capitol’s castle were inconducive for insulation. They retained no heat. Fireplaces were foolishly placed in the walls of rooms instead of the middle, a placing which impeded the circulation of warmth. It was a selfish sort of architecture. A selfish lifestyle.

Even now, Dedue misses Duscur. He misses his bearskin blanket and he misses gathering around the hearth with his mother and sister. But now after the end of the great war, even with plans for reparations of his home in the works, it's still hardly anything more than burnt fields and crumbled buildings, stripped even of its name. On paper, it's simply the Kleiman Territory now-- the property of a greedy, insufferable noble.

"That was a pretty heavy sigh," Ashe murmurs from the doorway.

Dedue is not aware he had sighed, and he lifts his head to greet his fiance, directing his gaze away from the measly blaze in their bedroom's hearth. He is brought back to the present. The former archer is holding mugs of steaming drinks. Ashe is a surprising fan of coffee, warranted he usually took his with so much milk and sugar it was barely recognizable as such. Perhaps it's better to say he is a fan of the _taste_ of coffee.

"What're you thinking of?" Ashe asks as he approaches the loveseat Dedue occupies. He gingerly situates himself in his lap, moving carefully so as not to upset their drinks. He looks into the cups and hands Dedue the darker colored one. "Here you go."

"Thank you." His coffee is not quite black and with a little bit of sugar in it. He isn't too keen on the drink himself, but on cold days like this, he is grateful for the warmth it fills him with. "I was not thinking of anything in particular."

"You're just cold, right?" Ashe smiles as he pulls a throw from over the back of their seat and places it around Dedue's shoulders, and he settles back onto his fiance's thighs, tucking his legs beneath him. "Are my feet cold?"

"Incredibly."

He giggles, failing to do anything about it. He leans his ear against Dedue's chest. It's much warmer this way, with a blanket around the two of them, huddled close. Ashe sips his coffee and looks up in the other's eyes. "Tell me a story."

"A story?" The king's vassal looks a bit unamused.

"Yeah! Don't you think it's the perfect time for a story?"

It's snowing. They're locked inside with nothing much to do, snuggled together. Tomorrow is the Millenium Festival, and they're conserving their energy for the festivities. 

Dedue supposes it _is_ the perfect time for a story.

"You know I am… not good with talking," he protests weakly.

"I like hearing you talk."

"I know you do."

"It's just the two of us."

"I know it is."

"Pleeease?" Ashe reaches up and traces Dedue's lips with an icy finger. The coffee makes him brave. "I always tell you stories."

Dedue's eyes cross momentarily to watch Ashe touch his mouth, and he presses a kiss to Ashe's fingertip. "And I love hearing you tell me stories."

His fiance turns his big, doe eyes up in an irresistible plea. "Just one?"

Dedue finds himself sighing as he gives in. "Just one."

Ashe gives a little cheer, taking back his hand and tucking it under Dedue’s shirt. His fingers are icy against his chest and Dedue bites back a protest.

Dedue gives his drink a sip as he thinks on what sort of story to tell. His eyes are trained on the white landscape outside their window.

"In Duscur," he finally says, "we have a legend on why we have seasons."

"Sounds fun," Ashe replies, overeager.

"It is a short story."

Ashe closes his eyes and listens to his future husband's voice rumble in his chest. The sound surrounds him in a gentle embrace. "That's fine."

"Very well." He tries not to disturb the other as he leans over to set his mug down. With his hands free, he caresses Ashe's freckle-specked cheeks and plays with his hair. “Long ago, the Earth and the Sun met, and they fell in love.”

“Oh, is this a love story?”

“You are quite noisy for someone who wants to listen.”

“I just like love stories.”

Dedue fights back the urge to roll his eyes. It’s an expression anyone from their old class would be surprised to find he knows, and he supposes it’s all on Ashe’s part that he’s opened up in this way. He smiles more. He frowns less. Incredibly, he has even learned how to whine and express an unwillingness to do certain things, rather than simply shouldering whatever burdens (or small chores) tossed his way.

“Would you like me to continue?” 

“Yes, please.”

“The Earth loved the Sun’s light, and the Sun loved the life that Earth had. So much so that one day, they began to dance, spinning and twirling around each other, and they never stopped. The Sun warmed every side of the Earth, and the Earth in turn grew plants and animals to show the Sun.”

Ashe smiles softly. What a sweet love the two of them had. Though of course, he keeps this remark to himself so as not to interrupt. He leans his head against Dedue’s touch as he continues.

“The rest of the stars… There are some that say the stars grew jealous of their brother, the Sun. The Sun was spending all of his time with his newfound love, the Earth. So, they began to pull the Earth away from the Sun. The Earth continued to dance, but at a distance where the Sun’s light could not reach him as well.”

He pauses, because Ashe’s hands have found his, and his fingers fiddle with his engagement ring.

“Are you listening?”

“I am. I am.” He presses a kiss to his knuckles.

Dedue continues. “And so, in sadness, the Earth stopped growing plants and nurturing his animals, since the Sun could no longer see it. The Sun begged his brothers to let them reunite. Their cruelty was killing the both of them.” 

Ashe listens intently as he sips his hot drink. Dedue looks so focused as he tells this legend. His eyes are focused elsewhere-- lost in a distant memory, sifting and picking through the words that his mother had passed down to him, long ago, huddled around for warmth at home. The snow fell from the same sky back then as it does now, endless and ageless and stark white.

“The rest of the stars heard their brother’s plea, but they were still lonesome for his company. The Sun and his siblings made an agreement. For six months of the year, the stars would cease their pulling on Earth and allow him to return to his love, and for the other six months, he would have to step away again. For the fall and winter, the Sun would have to play with the rest of the sky, and for the summer and spring, he and Earth could be together to dance.”

“Oh, I get it,” Ashe exclaims. “So that’s where we get the seasons. The Earth misses the Sun so much he… stops living….” The easy smile melts off his face and he hides the forlorn expression in his mug.

Dedue presses a gentle kiss on the crown of Ashe’s silver hair.

“That’s horrible. I would hate to be the Earth,” he murmurs. 

His fiance raises a brow at that statement. Ashe always imagined himself as the knights in his stories. It was strange to have him put himself into the shoes of the Earth. It was sad. Dedue doesn’t want Ashe comparing them to something so… despairing. Though he supposes he can sympathize. The thought of being apart makes him feel like dying.

“You are not the Earth,” Dedue whispers to his fiance.

“I know I’m not the Earth,” he replies, a little sadly-- like Dedue had just said he was unlike the knights in his books. He sits with his legs straggling Dedue’s and wraps his arms around his neck. He presses their lips together, tasting of coffee and traces of sugar. They trade kisses, silent and touching for a while. “I love you.”

Dedue pulls the blanket around them, resting it over their heads, cutting themselves off from the rest of the cold world. “I adore you.”

Ashe grinned, and it lit up their little dark cave they had around them. He snuggled closer to his fiance, who wrapped his arms around him and held him close.

“I would be very cold without you,” Dedue tells him fondly.

The grin further splits Ashe’s freckle smattered face. “Tell me another story?”

“I told you only one.”

“Tell me one more!”

Sighing, Dedue concedes.

Ashe can’t possibly be the Earth. He is the Sun.


End file.
